Importance of Food & Drink Consumption

The human body requires certain things to sustain life, including the consumption of food and water. The quality of your life depends largely on the quality of the food and water you consume, which will have a direct impact on your health. The lack of food or water can impact your immediate survival whereas the foods you eat work as building blocks for your future, both short and long term. Not all food and drink is created equal and can actually create destructive cycles that can result in illness and disease.

Food

• Food defines those things you ingest for the purpose of fueling your body. It is broken down into three basic components: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. All of these provide a critical function in your body, which will use what it needs for energy, expel some in waste and store the rest for future use. Eating too little means you deprive your body of the nutrients it needs right now, and it will malfunction accordingly. Eating too much means you will have more stored excess weight that will require more energy to spend it.

Water

• The human body is made up of up to 75 percent water, which continually needs to be replenished for your organs to function properly. While food is important, you can live for days and even weeks without it before you run the risk of starvation. Water, on the other hand, is far more critical. You can feel the effects of dehydration, or water deprivation, the very same day you deprive your body of this vital resource. By the time you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

Quality and Quantity

• Just like the fuel you use to run your car, the foods you use to fuel your body affect its performance. Those cheaper produced foods that are full of preservatives and hidden additives like sugar lead to destructive eating patterns by spiking the sugar in your blood. Your energy spikes and then drastically drops. You get hungry again, generally for those foods with the same high sugar content to recover from the sluggish aftermath of a sugar crash. This repeats the cycle, filling your body with foods that sustain your energy without providing vital nutrients, leading to overeating, which could lead to health problems like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Choose Wisely

• The proper food and drink consumption help you maintain a healthy body weight and optimum vitality, so you need to choose wisely. Eating healthier foods, generally lean animal-based proteins or a primarily plant-based, diet provides the nutrients you need to keep your body functioning properly. Likewise, keeping your body properly hydrated, generally drinking about eight glasses of water per day, helps you lose excess pounds and maintain a healthy weight. Substituting those eight glasses of water with drinks that are filled with sugar, caffeine or alcohol will actually work against proper hydration and negatively affect your body.